Alaska officials: Palin owes back taxes

posted at 5:44 pm on February 18, 2009 by Allahpundit

Gov. Sarah Palin must pay income taxes on thousands of dollars in expense money she received while living at her Wasilla home, under a new determination by state officials.

The governor’s office wouldn’t say this week how much she owes in back taxes for meal money, or whether she intends to continue to receive the per diem allowance. As of December, she was still charging the state for meals and incidentals…

“Last fall we raised questions about longstanding practices within the Department of Administration regarding tax treatment of per diem payments,” Kreitzer wrote in an exchange of e-mails over the past few days with the Daily News.

“At the Governor’s request, we reviewed the situation to determine whether we were in full compliance with the pertinent Internal Revenue Service regulations,” [state administration commissioner Annette] Kreitzer wrote. “As a result of this review, we determined that per diem needs to be treated as income, requiring a revision of W-2 forms for any affected employees.”

Remember when WaPo broke the per diem story last fall? It was 10 days after McCain picked her, during the momentary lull between the media obsessing about Bristol Palin’s pregnancy and the media obsessing about Palin’s tanning bed. Team Maverick defended her for billing the state for nights away from Juneau spent in her own home in Wasilla, but the practice was sufficiently unusual that she evidently opted for full transparency and ordered a state review. Shrewd move: As embarrassing as it is to have this come out so soon after Geithner and Daschle, it would have been more embarrassing still to have it come up again in a future primary.

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I’m going by my memory only, so bear with me, but I thought the whole point of her taking the per diem from home was because the state capital residence in Juneau was unliveable while they were doing extensive repairs which took several months. They were going to put her and her family up in a local hotel for the restoration period, but she decided to stay at home and she cut the per diem fee down from what other administrations used to be allocated. Overall, it cost the state less money to do it this way. However, when she got picked as VP nom. some partisons got the media involved what was an accepted practice for Alaska into a “that’s not how other states do it” meme.

Think of sports critics or pundits-do they spend their time talking about journeymen players or do they spend 99% of their time talking about superstar players like A-Rod, Peyton Manning, Lebron James, or Tiger Woods.

On HA I would venture a guess that of the conservative or Republican politicians discussed on the various threads since the beginning of the year at least 80%, maybe more, of the attention has been focused on Sarah Palin.

This really says it all. The people have spoken. If other GOP or conservative politicians make inroads I will be the first to admit that Sarah has some competition, but as of now her comeptition doesn’t appear daunting.

the Governor’s Mansion in Juneau is a defective place with bad plumbing that needs to be turned into a museum.

A glance at the expense report reproduced on the Post’s website shows that she requested per diem for her daily expenses, but not for lodging, and that she apparently wrote “lodging–own home” only to explain why she wasn’t requesting hotel expenses. The story notes that Palin rarely charged the state for meals when in Wasilla and Anchorage because she instead just asked for the per diem!

But as far as potential candidates, I like Jodi Rell (Conn. governor) or perhaps Charlie Crist. Maybe Bobby Jindal. Again, way too early to shove anyone out in front.

Right, but none of these people are really in the national conversation. Palin is by virtue of her spot on the ticket. That doesn’t make it worship when people defend her. She’s the top target for any anti-R shots, so R’s got her back. That doesn’t make her wonder woman, though she’s pretty damn cool.

After the Geithner and Daschle clusterfarks? It’s embarrassing for any politician to owe back taxes.

Allahpundit on February 18, 2009 at 5:53 PM

Sighs at Allah….

Since Palin let go of the Gov. Mansion Chef, that save about 40K a year. Only takes flights on Coach to Juneau, which saves about 500 ddollars per round trip ticket, sold the “Gov.’s Jet” and a few other things. You are going to be a complete jerk about Per Diem, since she does most of the business in Anchorage not Juneau, to save the Tax Payers and those who come to the meetings (since most go to Anchorage first via flights anyways)… how is that not conservative?

I find this whole per diem thing strange anyway. I have been in the military 23 years and get paid per diem whenever I’m away from my official duty station – because I am away from the chow hall, which is included in my “benefits”. It’s never been taxable.

Palin had a state-provided chef, who she got rid of. Instead she gets her own food and cooks it herself. When the legislature is not in session she shuts down the Governor’s Mansion with its free chow and servants, and saves the state money by living in her own house.

She doesn’t charge the state for lodging, only for meals in Anchorage where she has her office. This is a scandal?

Atlanta: And where do you fit in the fact that Palin requested her audit?

Scott H on February 18, 2009 at 6:59 PM

She probably was told by her advisors that this would be discovered sooner or later given all of the scruttiny that the taxes of Democratic politcians have received lately. Reemeber, Tom Dascle also “voluntarily” paid his taxes; the IRS was not on to him.

She probably was told by her advisors that this would be discovered sooner or later given all of the scruttiny that the taxes of Democratic politcians have received lately. Reemeber, Tom Dascle also “voluntarily” paid his taxes; the IRS was not on to him.

Atlanta Voter on February 18, 2009 at 7:08 PM

Actually this was brought up three months ago. Time to get with the program.

Governor of state requests inquiry of per diem to see if taxes may be due, caused by unweildy tax code. Inquiry finds compliance issue. Governor files amended tax return and pays appropriate taxes. Before tax deadline.

I wish all Governors were as up front with issues that are ‘fuzzy’. Oregon Gov Free Spend Ted could use a lesson. Too bad it’s a blue state.

She doesn’t charge the state for lodging, only for meals in Anchorage where she has her office. This is a scandal?

Jim62sch on February 18, 2009 at 7:07 PM

That is a trick question:
Clothes…scandal
Trig…scandal
Bristol…scandal
Firing a loser…scandal
Packing the arenas with screaming fans…scandal
Protecting the endangered Caribou…scandal
Hunting…scandal
Fishing…scandal
Going to more then one college…scandal
Being a beauty queen…scandal
Pardoning a turkey…scandal
Living in Alaska…scandal
Talking like a normal person…scandal
Being a mom…scandal
Eating meat that she hunted…scandal
Talking to Greta…scandal
Not providing Trig’s DNA…scandal
Not looking pregnant…scandal
Returning clothes…scandal
Everything she does is a scandal…living in a nice home…scandal

Right, but none of these people are really in the national conversation. Palin is by virtue of her spot on the ticket. That doesn’t make it worship when people defend her. She’s the top target for any anti-R shots, so R’s got her back. That doesn’t make her wonder woman, though she’s pretty damn cool.

Spirit of 1776 on February 18, 2009 at 7:07 PM

Defending Palin is one thing…trashing and deriding anyone who doesn’t fully support her as a frontrunner is another.

As for the “national spotlight”, again…it’s way early. And the ONLY reason she’s in the spotlight is, as you said, because McCain put her there when he picked her. If not for that, she’d be in the same spot as the others. Let her performance in Alaska speak for her. Not her 15 minutes of fame.

JetBoy: Er, Crist? Not exactly someone I’d recommend. I don’t know Rell, but from what I know I’d be perfectly happy with Jindal.

Scott H on February 18, 2009 at 7:06 PM

Yeah, Crist. He’s got the drive. We agree on Jindal, cool. Rell was Lt. Governor, and took over when Gov. Roland resigned over receiving gifts and cheap prices for his home renovation from a company who got sweetheart state contracts. She took control immediately, and put words into action. For example, Conn. needed more commuter train cars badly. In her first few week on the job, she got a good price on some used train cars from Virginia. They were shipped up, and when told they needed to be repainted with the “MTA” logo (the all had the Virgina logo’s on them) she said “Get them on the tracks. We’ll paint them later”

If all Ak lawmakers get this per diem and it wasn’t reported as taxable income on the tax forms they were sent by the state then they all owe back taxes. Gov. Palin was unsure of this practice and requested a review to see if it was correct.

Sarah has a per diem because she is away from Juneau on official governor business.

Sarah saves the state money by staying at home at eating her wonderful budget-conscious moose chili. Her per diem is low by business standards.

She professionally requested a review of the tax consequences of the per diem because she has a servant’s heart and sincerely wanted to pay the legal and proper tax despite the fact she is for low taxes. This must have absolutely been so hard for her being a low-tax Republican and parting with her hard earned money, like when she had to give up her first son to the Army. Such duty to country and the people.

And, she cannot be in the wax museum because she is just too hot right now and would melt herself.

And yes, AP, you putting out these Palin threads and then getting jumped on by all the Cuda’s loyal fanatical fans is like watching a swarm of ants attack the intruder bug as it gets near the Queen: Brutal but fascinating to watch.

Exit question: What’s it like getting your limbs ripped off every thread you do this?

He’s a talented writer who wasn’t afraid to mock jihadis just after 9/11…

Esthier on February 18, 2009 at 6:08 PM

Yeah, mocking Muslim fundamentalists after 9/11 took such political courage.

I don’t care if he’s a beta male, an alpha male, or a delta male. He’s an ass. I love the layout of his website though. To the extent that he’s responsible for this layout, he’s a genius. But it says at the bottom of the screen that the blog was designed by “The Blog Studio,” so I doubt that AssPedant had much to do with it. Memeorandum provides him his daily links. He gets to cut and paste and provide snotty asides. I don’t mind that he’s not a Palin fan. That’s fine. It’s the condescending contempt that he has for her and the willful distortion of her record that really that makes me dislike him.

“At the Governor’s request, we reviewed the situation to determine whether we were in full compliance with the pertinent Internal Revenue Service regulations,” [state administration commissioner Annette] Kreitzer wrote

If Sarah Palin requested an investigation, she must have recognized the problem. Therefore, she must have known that she should have never requested the per diem money in the first place.

This makes zero sense. How many tax cheats request to get caught? Asking for clarification to assure you’re in compliance and knowing something is wrong but doing it anyway aren’t quite the same thing, if you haven’t figured that out. Lord.

I definitely wouldn’t let anyone dictate who our candidate should be; however, we need someone with as much, or more, bravado than obummer. As I said, I like SP and I think she’s been vilified, but we need someone who will be able to take the attacks and fight back with a resounding and convincing voice.
Additionally, I think conservatives in every state should start finding and promoting candidates now and not wait until the 2010 and 2012 election cycles. We need to beat the liberals at their own game and that means not waiting to find candidates to get behind, creating our own MSM outlets and technological capabilities, defining not redefining what conservatives are about, organizing grass root efforts, etc. There are so many conservative sites reporting the news and not enough conservatives organizing, for lack of a better word.

JetBoy: First and foremost, a candidate must carry his base. Crist would not get my vote, from what I know about him. Therefore, I’m not sure how you can classify his appeal as ‘wide’. He may carry centrists and even some liberals, but if I’m representative of the base, he doesn’t enthuse the base. This is the McCain recipe, and I think we’ve seen how it failed.

Again, can you tell me policy points or issues you can point to about Crist that makes him conservative?

If Sarah had tried to hide the per diem allowance and not asked for the investigation to whether she should pay taxes on it, then you would have accused her of trying to EVADE PAYING TAXES and accused her of being like Al Capone.

You can’t have it both ways. Like a golfer Sarah called a penalty on herself and as a result had to pay a price. And like a golfer it was up to her discretion to do so. It’s called honor and integrity. You golfers out there, you know what I am talking about.

Defending Palin is one thing…trashing and deriding anyone who doesn’t fully support her as a frontrunner is another.

I must have missed those comments.

As for the “national spotlight”, again…it’s way early. And the ONLY reason she’s in the spotlight is, as you said, because McCain put her there when he picked her. If not for that, she’d be in the same spot as the others. Let her performance in Alaska speak for her. Not her 15 minutes of fame.

I agree, but she’s there nonetheless. Therefore she’s the topic until someone else does something more newsworthy.

If Sarah Palin requested an investigation, she must have recognized the problem. Therefore, she must have known that she should have never requested the per diem money in the first place.

Atlanta Voter on February 18, 2009 at 7:23 PM

She only discovered that there might be a problem when the MSM published a story about her per diem expenses and the nation’s tax lawyers began arguing with each other about whether or not per diems are taxable income. Before that, no one gave the per diems a second thought. Alaskan state legislators who don’t live in Juneau receive a non-taxable stipend for living expenses during the legislative session. Alaska is “different.” The state’s capital, and the official governor’s residence is Juneau, but the center of business is Anchorage. It makes sense for the governor to work out of her Anchorage office most of the year. That’s where all the action is.

Oh. My. God. Is a mob of moderates going to march on Washington with Orange Charlie and T-Paw signs, demanding slightly fewer federal bailouts and a slightly slower growth in federal power-grabs?

This is a time for bold conservative vision, not Marxist-lite.

This is not a constructive attitude. First, Palin is a incredibly polarizing figure. Second, Alaska is in the bag for the GOP. On ther hand, Florida and Minnesota are must-win swing states.

I live in a city. I’m tired of being embarassed by the leaders of my party. I’m tired of not being able to defend my Party when I talk to co-workers and friends. If you guys nominate Palin, I’m going to bolt. I almost did last year, but opted not to vote at all.

If she legitimately owes back taxes, she should pay them, and I’ve no doubt she will.

But – this sounds like it may not be over, and I suspect (as usual) there’s a political revenge motive behind this…Aside from just the usual “let’s all pounce on Palin” BS.

*wonderment – a thread about Palin, and I don’t see that shrill Deb Schlussel in here, bitching and moaning, giving clues to a perhaps morbid obsession with all-things-Palin. Maybe I missed it, thus far? *yawn

I live in a city. I’m tired of being embarassed by the leaders of my party. I’m tired of not being able to defend my Party when I talk to co-workers and friends. If you guys nominate Palin, I’m going to bolt. I almost did last year, but opted not to vote at all.

AV: Polarizing doesn’t mean ‘bad’. Obama was also incredibly polarizing. And he just becomes moreso.

I can tell you, as a conservative in Florida, that if you run a conservative, we’ll vote for them.

Honestly, AV, accepting your bona fides for the moment, why should you be embarrassed by conservative leaders? It sounds like you let the opposition define the argument, which puts you on the defensive and forces a loss of control on your part. Don’t let them do that.

I must say, Palin’s conservative credentials are quite good. If people look down on her for her roots, that’s a sign that you shouldn’t take them seriously. The vast majority of Americans have the same background as Palin, and so anyone who looks down on Palin for her background doesn’t have a very good opinion of Americans in general.

That is a trick question:
Clothes…scandal
Trig…scandal
Bristol…scandal
Firing a loser…scandal
Packing the arenas with screaming fans…scandal
Protecting the endangered Caribou…scandal
Hunting…scandal
Fishing…scandal
Going to more then one college…scandal
Being a beauty queen…scandal
Pardoning a turkey…scandal
Living in Alaska…scandal
Talking like a normal person…scandal
Being a mom…scandal
Eating meat that she hunted…scandal
Talking to Greta…scandal
Not providing Trig’s DNA…scandal
Not looking pregnant…scandal
Returning clothes…scandal
Everything she does is a scandal…living in a nice home…scandal

Remember all those tired screes about how Palin would drag McCain’s Rino behind across the finish line in November. Looks like that didn’t work out too well. What is her excuse?

Bradky on February 18, 2009 at 7:52 PM

His erratic behavior on TARP made his behind too heavy for anyone to drag. She did save him from a Mondale-style blowout, though. 91% of Republicans had a favorable opinion of her after the election, according to Rasmussen.

OH HELL NO! If its good for the goose its good for the gander! Don’t even freaking go there! If you want Gov. Palin to pay back money baby you better expect that from every damn governor! What other state gives money back to its constituents? She is more than fair…they hate her because she is a good person, a good mother, a good wife!

JetBoy: Do you have a link to the poll itself, and not a report on the poll? It also _highly_ depends on what ‘likely voter’ means. Realize that if they asked me if I would likely to vote for Crist, I would say no, and then they wouldn’t ask me the question about the approval rating. In other words, trying to use this poll to claim that Crist is a good candidate may be employing circular logic.

There is also apparently an issue with the validity of the poll, based on the number of respondents.

What conservatives need is a candidate (or an issue) that will _increase the likely voter pool_, not just to shift voters.